Storm Rising (45 page)

We could still have a disaster
, he cautioned himself.
Don’t count the larks until they are safely fledged.

But. But! If he had not overcome his repugnance and
started in motion the negotiations with Tremane—if k’Leshya had waited to send their delegation—if the Sworn-Shaman had decided to leave things in the hands of Jarim—if Elspeth and An’desha had not recalled how Falconsbane had made a miraculous escape from the Shin’a’in Sword-Sworn—

Yet everything had been
there
, and who was to say that if they had not put this solution together there would not have been another one?
Altra and Hansa could Jump people in pairs. Or maybe more than pairs—Altra Jumped me, An’desha, and Florian at the same time. We might have been able to work out something with Final Strikes, only less drastic. We could have shielded the Heartstones with everything we have, waited until the breakwater failed, endured a single round of the storms, and
then
gone to the Plains.

No, this was not the only solution, and any of the pieces that had fallen neatly into place could have been replaced by another piece—but just at the moment, it looked as if it was the best solution.

What was important was that everyone who
possessed
a piece to contribute,
had.

Once a start at a solution had been identified, people began volunteering—or declining to volunteer—for the expedition. The usual restless souls volunteered—Firesong, Treyvan and Hydona (who would have flown through fire for a chance to visit Urtho’s Tower, or the remains of it), An’desha. There were some surprises—Elspeth and Darkwind declined, planning instead to hold the shielding on the Valdemar Heartstone, and Silverfox volunteered, saying that they had better have someone along with rudimentary Healer knowledge.
Florian
volunteered (“To stand for Valdemar”). The Shin’a’in Sworn Shaman Lo’isha was going, of course, it was his homeland. The White Winds mages declared themselves out of their depth. Altra was going.

But last of all, Karal was going though he was no mage; An’desha and Altra had both insisted on it, although he could not imagine why they needed
him.: Contingency,:
Altra had said cryptically.

He only hoped this “contingency” would not involve
a situation similar to the one on the Iftel border. Acting as a channel for whatever power that held sway behind those magical barriers—whatever it was that a channel
did—
had ranked right up with all of the worst personal experiences in his life. He really didn’t want to repeat it.

An’desha said that he just wanted Karal as a buffer between himself and Firesong.
That
was a role easier to handle.

He wanted to stay with Natoli, and his sense of duty warred with his wishes. If Altra wanted him to go, there must be a reason connected with his duties as a Priest. But Natoli needed him, too.

It was finally Natoli herself who solved his dilemma for him.

He went to visit her in her room at Healer’s Collegium, and described all the preparations being made for the journey to the remains of the Tower. She listened with interest, as she nursed her bandaged and splinted wrist close to her body.

“I wish I could go,” she said wistfully. “Even though I probably wouldn’t actually see anything happening. Just think of how old that Tower is! Think of what you could learn from inscriptions there if there are any! And what if there are books preserved in there somehow—why, who knows what new tracks they would send us off on!” She sighed, and looked ruefully at the bandages still covering her injuries. “But I can’t, and that’s that. You’re going to be traveling fast to get across the bowl of the Plains in time, and you can’t have anyone along who would slow you down.”

“What do you mean by,
’you’re
going to be traveling fast’?” he asked. “No one’s ordered
me
to go.”

“No one’s ordered you, but I thought you told me that An’desha and Altra both wanted you to go,” she replied with surprise.

“They can
want
as much as they please,” he said stubbornly. “I’m making up my own mind on this one. I’ve had my fill of other people making it up for me.”

She frowned. “Are you going with the mages to the Plains or not?” she demanded. “If you don’t want to
because
you
don’t want to, that’s one thing, but you’d better not be wavering on this because of me!”

He was taken aback by the stern tone of her voice, and the hint of anger in her eyes. “Why not?” he asked.

“Because I won’t have it, that’s why!” she exclaimed. “If Altra wants you to go, doesn’t that mean it’s your duty to go? I won’t have you neglecting your duty just because you want to keep me company! I don’t expect or want that kind of behavior out of you, and you’d
better
not expect or want it out of me!”

Her vehemence left him speechless for a moment, and she filled in the silence.

“My
job
is to uncover new facts, find new ways of doing things, and sometimes that’s dangerous,” she continued, calming her tone of voice somewhat. “Well, look what happened with the boiler. I could have been killed!”

“I know—” he said numbly.

“So?” she gazed at him demandingly. “Would you ask me to choose between you and my work?”

If 1 did, I’d lose her
, he realized.
She has a right to her work, her life. I don’t have a right to ask her to give up any of that.

“No,” he replied quietly.

“And I don’t and won’t ask the same of you,” she replied, as her fingers brushed restlessly back and forth along the bandages on her arm. “It’s not fair and it’s not right. This thing the mages are doing—it’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

He shivered. “More than dangerous. The Shin’a’in know where the Tower is, of course, and they’ve been working to uncover the entrance to the Vault since we decided what to do—but once we get in there, we’ll be sorting through weapons that are very old, probably unstable, and not all of them are magical in nature. The mechanical weapons may be
very
unstable, the others think. Then when we find what we’re looking for, we aren’t sure what, exactly, we’re going to be dealing with.”

He heard himself saying “we” before he thought
about it, and knew she’d noticed the phrasing when she smiled.

“So you’re going.” She made it a statement.

He sighed. “If Altra wants me along
and
he’s being cryptic, it’s because there’s something he thinks I might have to do, and it’s something he knows I probably wouldn’t do if I had any choice.” He grimaced. “I’m sure if I
don’t
go, they’ll find a way around any problems they encounter, but I’m also sure that it will be easier if I do go. In a case like this—the next best solution might not be good enough.”

She reached for his hand with her uninjured one. “You know how you’d feel if this failed because you weren’t there.”

“If this fails, we’re going to be in worse trouble than Hardorn is now,” he corrected and shivered. “Think what would happen if the shielding all failed on the Heartstone here.”

She blanched, as well she should.

“But we may be worrying at nothing,” he went on, “And I may prove to be no more useful than an extra pair of hands to brew tea. If Altra
knew
I was needed, he wouldn’t be giving me a choice. He said I should go as a ‘contingency’ measure. We’ve had everyone with
any
kind of ForeSight trying to probe in the direction of this situation, and none of them can tell us anything. They say that the images are all too confused, and that there is no clear path to the future once they get past the fact that we
do
find the Vault and we
do
find the weapons there.” As he squeezed her hand, he allowed himself a moment of annoyance. “Now tell me this—what good does it do to be a Priest or to be able to talk with Avatars if neither your God nor the representatives of your Goddess are going to give you any clues?”

Natoli chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment. “I’ve been listening to you and An’desha talking about Vkandis and the Star-Eyed, and I wonder if this isn’t another one of those cases where there are many choices, and since none of the choices are a Second Cataclysm, They aren’t going to help. I mean—they watch while people kill people and let people die all
the time, and only take a hand in things once in a while, when it will make a big difference down the road. The rest of the time, people have to do what they feel they should, and accept the results. It’s that ‘free will’ thing again.”

He groaned. “I could do with a little more guidance and a little less free will!”

“I couldn’t.” Once again, she surprised him. “I want to make my own decisions, and if they’re the wrong ones, then I’ll learn from them. I want to be an
adult
, not a child. I don’t want to be led along the safe path! The safe path is never new, and the safe path never teaches you anything others don’t already know!”

Had she always been like this, or had the enforced idleness given her time to think about these things? He was astonished at the clarity and fearlessness of her outlook. “A lot of people wouldn’t agree with you,” he replied, answering her as seriously as she had spoken. “A great many people would rather have the safe path, and be taken care of. They’d rather have all their answers assured, neatly packaged, with ‘the end’ put on the last page.”

“Then they can look for that neat package, but it’s a false one, and they’re only fooling themselves.” Her eyes were shining, and her color heightened with excitement. “There
is
no end to questioning, except decay. And I’m not ready to sit and rot, and neither are you.”

“You’re right, I’m not.” He leaned over then, and dared a kiss; her lips were warm and soft, and she didn’t pull away. “And you’re right; I should go. I’ll be lonely without you, but I’ll go.”

Natoli squeezed his hand and whispered, “Be brave, Karal, and be careful. Come back to me.”

Sejanes led a group of mixed Herald-Mages and White Winds mages who would be establishing the Gate under his direction and control; as Altra and Hansa had, they were using the old ruin in Companion’s Field. “They’re going to be worthless when we’re done,” he’d warned Selenay. “And they’re going to be
weak as newborn kittens for at least a day.” Accordingly, she had sent along a contingent of servants with litters to carry them off when they collapsed. Sejanes had approved.

Now the expedition force stood in knee-deep snow beneath an overcast sky while Sejanes reiterated the plan. “We’ll hold the Portal open long enough for you all to get through,” he said, squinting into the bright snow glare. “That’s all this lot will be good for. We’ll reopen it in a fortnight, and you’d better be up on that rim when we do.”

“You’ll reopen it if you can,” muttered one of the k’Leshya mages. “If they don’t succeed, you’ll have more than the Portal to worry about.”

Sejanes ignored that—or perhaps he simply didn’t hear it. “If you aren’t there, we’ll reopen it one more time a fortnight later, then send word to call up search parties down there.” He paused and favored the k’Leshya mage with a sharp glance. Perhaps he
had
heard the mutter. “If, however, the force of your weapon deactivates the Gate at your end, you will have to find another way back here.”

“In other words,” Firesong said, laughing, “we walk home.”

:Not precisely.:

Heads snapped up all over the group, as even those who did not have Mindspeech reacted to that voice in their heads.

A Companion stallion emerged from the trees to their left, leading a group of four more, all of them young, all nervously tossing their heads, and all wearing saddles and halters. Not the fancy tack of a Companion on search for his Chosen, but the everyday stuff a working Companion used.

:Rolan would like you to relay the rest, Karal,:
Florian said, as he nudged Karal’s shoulder with his nose.
:He can Mindspeak with anyone he wishes to, but it takes a lot of effort, and this will be faster.:

“Ah—this is Rolan, he’s the Queen’s Own Companion” Karal said hastily.

:These are four of the fastest and strongest of the
Companions who have not Chosen Heralds, and they have been picked by Rolan out of the volunteers to serve as mounts for those who need them.:

“Unpartnered Companions volunteered to carry the humans of our group,” Karal interpreted. “These are the best.” He knew from his own experience that no horse could ever keep up with a Companion, and if somehow the others had missed that particular piece of information, they’d soon figure it out!

:Rolan has made assignments.:
The stallion tossed his head, and a muscular male with a short mane and tail stepped forward and bowed to the Sworn Shaman.
:This is Kayka.:

“Your mount is called Kayka, sir,” Karal told that worthy, who bowed to the stallion.

“I am honored, Kayka.” Lo’isha’s tone made it clear that he meant his words, they were not just for politeness’ sake.

Two mares with artistically flowing manes and tails tripped forward together, stopping in front of Firesong and Silverfox.:
Twin sisters, Senta and Sartra. Senta will take Firesong, and says—:

“I can hear what she says, thank you, Florian,” Firesong interrupted dryly. “And I assure you, I actually
do
know how to travel lightly. Remember? I came here with only what my
dyheli
friend could carry.” He turned to the Companion and bowed to her as deeply as the shaman had bowed to Kayka, though with a touch more irony. “I am grateful for your assistance, Senta, and I appreciate your beauty.”

Silverfox already had one hand on Sartra’s shoulder, and appeared to be deep in mental conversation with her. The last Companion, another female, slim, with a long forelock half hiding her eyes, stepped shyly forward, and scraped at the snow in front of An’desha with one hoof.

:This is Idry,:
said Florian.
:She is my younger sister, and was the first to volunteer.:

An’desha smiled. “Then I shall be twice as glad to have her company, Florian.”